Process for casting articles



April 1968 E. BRICHARD ETAL 3,381,073

PROCESS FOR CASTING ARTICLES Filed July 21, 1965 5 Sheets-sheet l-ADOLPHE DUPONT JEgliy DE KEERSMAECKER APT;l 1968 E. BRICHARD ETAL3,381,073

PROCESS FOR CASTING ARTICLES Filed July 21, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 EDGARDBR/CHARD ADOLPHE DUPONT JEAN 0E KEERSMAECKER wwgcw April 1968 E.BRICHARD ETAL 3,381,073

I PROCESS FOR CASTING ARTICLES Filed July 21, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 /NVE N 70/25 EDGAR!) ERIC/MRO ADOLP DUPGN'T JEAN KEERSMAECKER 1 ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 3,381,073 PROCESS FGR CASTiNG ARTECLES EdgardBrichard, Jumet, Adolphe Dupont, Marcinelle,

and Jean De Keersmaecker, Couillet, Belgium, assignors to Glaver'oel,Watermael-Boitsfort, Belgium, 2 Belgian company Continuation-impart ofapplication Ser. No. 206,984, July 2, 1962. This application July 21,1965, Ser. No. 473,870 Claims priority, application Belgium, July 4,1951,

7 Claims. (Cl. 264-454) This application is a continuation-in-part ofour application Ser. No. 206,984, filed July 2, 1962.

The invention disclosed herein relates to improvements in the productionof articles by casting and is especially advantageous in connection withthe casting of articles having openings or passages therein such aswheels with hubs, wheel shafts, cylinders for rolling mills, draw barsused in the manufacture of glass sheets, etc.

The existing processes for casting refractory materials which arefusible at high temperature by known igneous methods to produce articlesof large size and height and especially those of complex form, have anumber of disadvantages. Usually, the molten refractory material to becast in making such articles is poured directly into the mold at one ormore points and the articles are hereafter removed from the mold. In thepractice of this method, the molten refractory liquid falling to thebottom of the mold causes an appreciable erosion of the bottom of themold, especially if the pouring takes place from a fairly considerableheight, owing to the shape of the article to be cast. On the other hand,the material first poured into the mold readily splashes, .and thegreater part of the splashed material adheres to the walls of the moldand becomes congealed thereon, so that the subsequent welding betweenthese drops and the mass of the article will be poor and evennon-existent. In any event, the surface appearance of the article willbe bad. Also the uncontrolled agitation which occurs in the mold duringthe pouring operation causes the inclusion of large quantities of gasand the formation of cavities in the cast article. Further, the castingof articles of complicated form by such refractory materials isgenerally difiicult to perform. Usually in forming such articles withmaterials which are fused with difiiculty, shrinkage holes ofsubstantial size are created and often require the cutting away of theentire upper portion of the casting which is waste. For example, it hasbeen found in the manufacture of draw bars which are used immersed inglass melting tanks and which may have a length of 350 cm., a width of50 cm., and a thickness of 30 cm., that it has been necessary to firstcast the draw bar to a thickness of 60 cm. and then cut it atmid-thickness in order to eliminate the superficial shrinkage hole. Inan effort to overcome the aforesaid disadvtantages in casting articlesof the type indicated, attempts have been made, to use molds comprisingin their lower part one or more channels through which the liquidmaterial is introduced. Such a system will eliminate the disadvantagesof direct pouring, but it necessitates specially adapted molds and doesnot correct the other aforesaid disadvantages.

The process of the present invention afi'ords the advantage that itenables the employment of ordinary molds and the pouring of the liquidrefractory material into them with the simplicity of direct casting,while eliminating the aforesaid disadvantages. More particularly theinvention makes it possible to eliminate large cavities in the castingand to supply a product having a better appearance and greaterhomogeneity in regard to the composition of its mass. Moreover, theinvention makes it possible to localize the portions of the castings tobe dis- 'ice carded, to reduce erosion or deterioration of the molds,and to produce more readily articles of complicated form.

In accordance with the invention, the refractory material in the moltenstate which is to be cast is distributed within the mold at a levelsituated between the bottom of the latter and its upper portion throughat least one feeding column or device that is independent of the mold.The liquid refractory material is advantageously initially distributedwithin the mold in the neighborhood of the bottom of the latter, but thepoint of distribution may be displaced in the course of the pouring ormultiple distribution points may be created, which become effective asthe level of the material in the mold rises.

To accomplish the aforesaid results, the device according to theinvention is constituted of one unitary feed column which is independentof the mold, and which has a bottom orifice that is located within themold at the given level chosen for the initial distribution of theparticular refractory liquid material to be cast. The device extendsfrom such given level to a point located outside of the mold so that themolten material is poured into the col umn or device through the endthereof situated outside the mold. The distribution column may beprovided with lateral orifices through which the liquid material isdischarged into the mold as the level of the liquid in the latter and inthe column rises. To prevent any possibility of violent contact of theliquid with the bottom of the mold, which might cause erosion of thelatter, there is advantageously provided at the bottom of the columnbelow the bottom orifice thereof means for breaking the stream of pouredmaterial. When a column having lateral apertures is employed, it may bedesirable to adjust the position of the stream-breaking means in suchmanner as to constrict the lower passage of the liquid and to increaseits flow through the lateral orifices.

The feed column is constructed either of a material identical to theliquid refractory material being cast or of a mate-rial weldabletherewith, or of a refractory material which is fusible at a temperaturebelow the casting temperature of the liquid material if it is desiredthat the point of distribution of the material should closely follow therising level of the cast material. A better understanding of theinvention will be obtained from a perusal of the following descriptionwhich should be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic vertical section showing a mold provided with afeed column made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing a form of feed column in enlargedscale;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showin a modified form of column;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing another embodiment of theinvention in a mold;

FIG. 5 is a partial vertical sectional view illustrating the manner inwhich the feed column may be employed in casting a wheel with a hub;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view partly in section to illustrate the mannerin which a draw bar for making glass sheets may be cast;

FIG. 7 is a broken side elevational view of the cast draw bar;

FIG. 8 is a transverse section of the draw bar taken along the line 8-8of FIG. 6; and

FIGS. 9, l0 and 11 are vertical sectional views illustrating the mannerin which the casting of FIG. 5 is completed.

The constructional form illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings comprisesa column 1, which is vertically disposed within a mold 2 consisting ofwalls 3, a base 4 and a cover 4'. The column 1 is mounted directly onthe base 4 being supported in spaced relation therefrom by a pluralityof legs 5 secured to the bottom of such column. The legs 5 are of aselected length to maintain the lower or bottom orifice 6 of the columnat a given appropriate distance from the base 4. The liquid refractorymaterial 7 to be cast is poured into the column 1 through the upperorifice 8 thereof, which is flared in the form of a funnel and issituated outside the mold.

As has been previously stated, the column 1 may consist of a material ofthe same nature as the article to be cast, or of a material weldable tothe material of said article, or of a material which is fusible at thecasting temperature. As the invention is particularly concerned with thecasting of refractory materials which are fusible at high temperaturesby igneous methods known to the art, such as metals, metal alloys,ceramics and the like, it has been found that metals, mixtures andalloys of metals, and refractory chemical compounds such as oxides,silicates, and particularly those compounds poured in electromolten formwhen their melting point exceeds 2000 C., are best suited for theconstruction of the column or pouring device 1. Materials which havebeen found suitable for the construction of the device 1 include amongthe metals the following:

Melting points, C.

Aluminum 660 Antimony 630 Chromium 1930 Copper 1083 Gold 1063 Iron 1535Lead 327 Manganese 1220 Nickel 1455 Platinum 1773 The following alloyshave also been found suitable:

Melting points, C.

20% lead, 80% silver 840 10% copper, 90% aluminum 630 40% nickel, 60%tin 1305 gold, 80% platinum 1610 90% copper, 10% aluminum 1055 Othersuitable alloys or metallic compounds which have been found suitableinclude all forms of steel, cast iron, steels alloyed with manganese,chrome and nickel, for example, the alloy composed of Fe 70%, Mn 1%, C.05 P-l-S .05%, Si 1%, Cr 18% and Ni 9% and triple alloys such asCu-Sn-Pb and Ag-Au-Zn.

Following are some of the ceramic refractory materials which have beenfound suitable for the purposes of the invention:

As previously indicated the material to be selected for the constructionof the column or device 1 depends on whether the device is to be left inthe cast piece as an integral part thereof either in a dispersed orstable form, or whether it is to be employed to feed the moltenrefractory material into the mold at selectively chosen levels or levelsto accomplish a specific result, such as, the elimination of shrinkageholes in the cooled casting.

If the difference in temperature between the material to be poured andthe melting point of the column is small 4 the latter will not melt andafter cooling will remain either welded to the poured (cast) material orhooped by the latter. If the difference is high, the column will meltduring the pouring at a rate depending on its thickness and it willdisseminate itself in the mass as the pouring level is raised. Thesesmall or great differences in temperatures may be utilized to accomplishthe results desired Whether the material to be poured and the materialof the column are identical or different; the only limitation is thatone cannot maintain a small difierence if the material to be pouredmelts at a temperature much higher than the melting point of the column.

If the material of the column is easily fusible, it will be dispersed inthe mass during the pouring operation thereby making it possible to formalloy steels, or killed metal bodies or steels by means of a column ofaluminum for example, or to adjust the final content of a cast metal bya column containing a fusible additive. For example, in casting a pieceto be constituted of an aluminunncopper alloy, one can pour the copperat a temperature of 1200 C. through an aluminum column melting at 660 C.The column will melt dispersing itself throughout the copper and thusproduce the alloy desired. At the same time one will have accomplishedthe purposes of the invention, namely the avoidance of spattering,shrinkage holes, etc. In this connection it will be noted that if thepouring temperature is greater than the melting temperature of thecolumn, the latter will melt with a certain lag, which will facilitatethe filling of the shrinkage holes at the same time as the material ofthe column is being dispersed throughout the poured mass. If the columnis not fusible, it will remain in the casting, for example in acondition of a form of boss, which can be machined subsequently, or inthe form of a shaft such as the shaft of wheel and the axis cylinder ofa rolling mill, or as an inner wall of the cast piece, such as the innerwall of a sleeve. When the column 1 is made of infusible material it ispreferably provided with lateral orifices, which are larger at thelocation of the shrinkage hole as will hereinafter be further described.After cooling, this column will be integral with the casting either byreason of its being intimately welded to the latter, or being hooped,that is clamped in by the contraction of the material of the casting.One has thus been able to cast aluminum wheels (poured at 800 C.) in acopper bushing. After cooling, the inner aluminum core is removed fromthe bushing and the bushing bored to the desired diameter. There is thusobtained a hub perfectly hooped by the wheel, or perfectly bored andsmooth bearing surface, without deformation, while the shrinkage hole inthe aluminum was eliminated.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the form of column 1 isimportant in controlling the violence of the stream of molten refractorymaterial being poured into the mold in order to prevent erosion of thebottom wall of the mold and spattering on the side walls thereof. Thusthe upper portion of the column 1 should preferably include above theorifice 8 a funnel-shaped portion 12 capable of enabling the moltenrefractive material being poured to fall on the inner wall of the column1 as is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings if the diameter of the column 1is large and thereby break the downward force of the column. The columnitself may function to dampen the violence of the stream by making itsdiameter small, in which case the funnel-shaped upper portion 18 (FIG.2) thereof should be made large enough or configured to avoid loss ofthe molten material as it is being fed into the upper orifice 8' of thesmall column, as is indicated by the portion 12' shown in FIG. 4 of thedrawings. The column may also comprise below its lower orifice 6streambreaking means, such as the disc 9 shown in FIG. 2 secured to thelegs 5. The disc 9 may advantageously consist of a fusible material, sothat it disappears as soon as the layer of cast material on the base issufiicient to protect the latter from erosion.

The column 1 may also be formed to effect feeding of the molten materialto selectively chosen levels in the mold by providing the column withlateral feed orifices (FIGURE 3) in the part thereof situated within themold. These orifices 10 are made substantially larger at the placeswhere the shrinkage holes would tend to appear in a particular castingas is indicated by the orifices 10' in FIG. 3 of the drawings. Aspreviously indicated the prevention of large shrinkage holes may also beaccomplished by increasing the height of the charge in the column at thetime that these shrinkage holes would be formed. This may also beaccomplished by constructing the column so that there is a delayedfusion of the column near the shrinkage hole points such as by providingthe fusible column with an excess thickness at the place of localizingof the shrinkage holes as indicated by the portion 13 of the column 1'illustrated in FIG. 4, or by forming the column with a material having anegative coefficient of expansion, such as bismuth, which upon coolingwill fill up the shrinkage hole. When the column is provided withorifices 10 and 10' and particularly when the stream breaking disc 9does not consist of fusible material, it is advantageous to reduce thedistance between the said disc and the lower orifice 6 to a value suchas to favor the flow through the orifices 13 and it), in proportion asthe level of the material in the mold and the column rises. In addition,in order to prevent splashing or" liquid material against the walls ofthe mold through the orifices 1t), 10' which the level of material hasnot yet reached, it may be desirable to orient these orificeshorizontally, or to incline them towards the interior of the column asillustrated in FIGURE 3. Moreover, that portion of the column which issituated outside the mold may be surrounded by a heat-insulatingmaterial 11.

The construction shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings may also be providedwith lateral passages 14 and these are preferably larger at the placewhere the shrinkage holes are likely to appear in the casting, as aboveexplained. When the article has been removed from the mold, it issufiicient to remove the thin wall 15 remaining at the position of thelegs 5, which are advantageously of short length. This wall may beavoided by disposing the column directly on the base of the mold, and inthis case the molten material is fed into the mold solely through thelateral orifices 14.

It may be advantageous, for example in the case of articles of specialshape, to move the feed column during the casting. The feed column mayreadily be horizontally, vertically or obliquely displaced by means of aknown device, for example by suspending the column from a small electrictackle arranged to travel along an orientable rail. For verticalmovement, the column may also be suspended from a fixed point and themold may be mounted on a support adapted to be lowered at a controllablespeed.

FIG. 5 of the drawings illustrates the manner in which the invention maybe employed to cast a wheel with a hub. For the purposes of illustrationthe wheel is made of aluminum and the hub 21 is made of copper. The hub21 initially was an integral part of a tubular column made of copper andcomposed an upper fiared, funnel-like portion 22, a body portion 23 ofwhich such hub 21 was a part, and a lower portion 24 provided Withlateral openings 25 through which the molten aluminum poured into thefeed column discharged into the space in the sand mold 26 in which isformed the wheel 20. The line 27 indicates the symmetry axis of theassembly which may have an overall diameter of 25 cm., and the line 28indicates that the portion of the wheel 20 below such line and the lowerportion 24 of the feed column may be cut away after removal of thecasting from the mold. The upper portion of the feed column is cut awayalong the line 29 after the casting has been made. The cast materialremaining in the column after the casting operation may be removedtherefrom in any convenient manner, for instance, by blowing, hammering,boring, or the like. These steps are illustrated more clearly in FIGS. 9to 11 of the drawings. FIG. 9 shows the body portion 23 of the guidecolumn in the mold after the pouring has been completed and the partscooled. The guiding column is shown provided with enlarged orifices 10"at the place where the shrinkage holes would tend to appear in thisparticular casting and the amount of head provided in the guiding columnto prevent the formation of such shrinkage holes is indicated by theupper portion of the poured material 7 shown in such column. FIG. 10shows the casting freed from the sand and the column and casting cutalong the lines 28 and 29, the inside of the remaining portion of thecolumn being still filled with the cooled poured material 7 FIG. 11shows the casting with the cooled poured material removed from thecolumn and the inner wall of the latter bored.

FIGS 6 to 8 illustrate an example of making a draw bar 30 composed of analuminous material melting at a temperature above 20% C. for use in thedrawing chamber of a sheet glass furnace. The draw bar 30 may be about50 x 350 x 30 cm. in size and is made in a two piece sand mold 31provided with a sand core 32 for forming the slit 33 in the draw bar.The feed column is made of the same material as the draw bar, i.e., highmelting aluminous material, and is composed of an upper fiared pouringend portion 34, an inlet branch 35 and two outlet branches 36, 36. Atthe juncture of the outlet branches 36, 36' with the inlet branch 35,the feed column is provided with lateral orifices 37 to take care of theshrinkage holes which would otherwise occur at such place in the castproduct. During the pouring operation, when the level of the moltenmaterial being poured has reached the region of the orifices 37, theheight of the charge in the inlet branch 35 is brought up to about 75cm. above this level so as to cause the molten material to be injectedwith more force through the lateral orifices 37 and at the contemplatedshrinkage hole location. As a result of this arrangement it is ossibleto cast the draw bar in vertical position without any loss of materialsince the shrinkage holes is not present. As the feed column, like thedraw bar, is made of electromelted material, only its upper partemerging from the mold above the line designated 38 need be cut ofiafter cooling of the casting.

While we have hereinabove described and illustrated in the drawings,preferred embodiments of our invention, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that modifications may be made thereof withoutdeparting from the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. The method of casting refractory materials which are fusible at hightemperatures to form articles of large size having openings extendingthrough the bodies thereof, comprising pouring the refractory materialin molten liquid form from a pouring device at a place spaced from theexterior of the mold into a guiding column independent of the mold, andconstituted of a refractory material compatible with the refractorymaterial being cast so as to be unitable therewith and having a meltingpoint above that of the molten material being cast and such that thecolumn retains its configuration throughout the pouring operation toform the opening in the body of the article, and using such column toguide the poured material from such exterior place to at least oneselected discharge level spaced from the interior Walls of the mold, andin guiding the material poured from such device into the mold brakingthe downward flow of such material to reduce the violence of the feedthereof so that such material will discharge into the mold at saidselected discharge level Without splash and with a minimum of forcetoward any interior wall portion of the mold, cooling the poured moltenmaterial and the refractory material of the guiding column to unite saidguiding column with the casting formed by the poured molten material,exerting force on the solidified poured material in the interior of thecolumn to remove the same therefrom, and cutting away 7 portions of thecolumn to convert it into a liner for such opening in the article.

2. The method of casting refractory materials which are fusible at hightemperatures to form articles of large size, comprising pouring therefractory material in molten liquid form from a pouring device at aplace spaced from the exterior of the mold into a guiding columnindependent of the mold and constituted of a refractory materialcompatible with the refractory material being cast so as to be unitabletherewith, pouring such molten material at high temperature into theguiding column to form the casting and to unite the material of thecolumn with the poured material forming the completed casting, andduring such pouring operation using such column to guide the pouredmaterial from such exterior place and initially discharge it into themold through a lower discharge port spaced upwardly from the bottominterior wall of the mold, and then discharge such molten material intothe mold through a lateral opening at a point spaced above said lowerdischarge port, the lower discharge port and lateral opening being atselected discharge levels and spaced from the interior walls of themold, and in guiding the material poured from said device into the moldbraking the downward flow of such material to reduce the violence of thefeed thereof so that such material will discharge into the mold at suchlower discharge port without splash and with a minimum of force towardany interior wall portion of the mold, and when the poured material isdischarging through such lateral opening, building up the level of suchmolten material in the column to a point substantially above the levelof the discharged molten material in the mold, and cooling the pouredmolten material and the refractory material of the guiding column.

3. The method defined in claim 2, in which the lateral opening islocated in the region of the casting where a shrinkage hole would tendto form therein and is made large enough to enable a substantial fiowtherethrough, and building up the level of the molten material in suchcolumn that it is discharged through such lateral opening withsufficient force to eliminate the formation of a shrinkage hole in saidregion.

4. The method of casting refractory materials which are fusible at hightemperatures to form articles of large size, comprising pouring therefractory material in molten liquid form from a pouring device at aplace spaced from the exterior of the mold into a guiding columnindependent of the mold and constituted of a refractory materialcompatible with the refractory material being cast so as to be unitabletherewith within the body of the casting, pouring such molten materialat high temperature into the guiding column to form the casting and tounite the material of the column with the poured material forming thecompleted casting, and during such pouring operation using such columnto guide the poured material from such exterior place into a portion ofthe mold cavity to be within the body of the casting, feeding the moltenrefractory material into the column so that it is initially dischargedinto such mold cavity through a lower discharge port spaced upwardlyfrom the bottom of such mold cavity at almost the same rate as the rateof feed thereof so that during such initial discharge there issubstantially no head of molten material in the column, then when themolten material in the mold cavity rises to the level of the lowerdischarge port, increasing the head in such column until such moltenmaterial discharges into such mold cavity through a lateral opening at apoint spaced above said lower discharge port, the lower discharge portand lateral opening being at selected discharge levels and spaced fromthe walls forming such mold cavity, and when the poured materialdischarging through such lateral opening has risen in the mold cavity tothe level of such lateral opening, building up the level of such moltenmaterial in the column to a point substantially above the level of thedischarged molten material in the mold for a given interval to dischargethe molten material through such lateral opening at an increasedpressure, cooling the poured molten material and the refractory materialof the guiding column, and cutting away the portions of the columnprojecting beyond the solidified body of the casting.

5. The method defined in claim 4, in which the guiding column is used todischarge the poured material into the mold cavity at a plurality ofprogressively higher levels and at a rate almost the same as the rate offeed of such material through a plurality of lateral openings spacedabove said lower discharge port at selected dis charge levels, at leastone of said openings located in the region of the particular articlebeing cast where a shrinkage hole would tend to form therein beinglarger in size than the other lateral openings to enable an increasedfiow of the molten material into such region, and in which the level ofthe molten material in the column when the molten material dischargesthrough said enlarged opening is built up to a point substantially abovethe level of such increased fiow through the enlarged lateral opening toincrease the pressure of such increased fiow.

6. The method defined in claim 4, in which the guiding column selectedis constituted of a refractory material having a melting point below themelting point of the molten refractory material being cast so that assuch molten material is being guided therethrough, the material of thecolumn will progressively melt and become united with the pouredmaterial of the casting, and such selected column having a wall which issubstantially thicker in the portion thereof in which said lateralopening is located so that during the pouring operation the fusion ofthe column in such portion will be delayed.

7. The method defined in claim 4, in which the guiding column selectedis constituted of a refractory material having a negative coefiicient ofexpansion and a melting point relative to that of the molten materialbeing cast so that as such molten material is being guided therethrough,such column will contract and substantially retain its configuration,and during such cooling step will, at least in the portion thereof inwhich said lateral opening is located, expand so as to eliminate anyshrinkage hole tending to form in the part of the cooling body of thecasting through which such column portion extends.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,774,687 9/ 1930 Willard 22-2033,177,281 4/ 1965 Umansky 264299 3,198,867 8/1965 Siggers 2642991,042,734 10/1912 West 22-104 701,105 5/ 1902 Tolmic 22-104 1,589,730 6/1926 Williams 22-134 363,444 5/ 1887 Wilmington 22-201 273,658 3/1883Wilmington 22-134 FOREIGN PATENTS 189,323 11/ 1922 Great Britain.1,132,297 7/ 1962 Germany. 216,688 1/1961 Austria.

ROBERT F. WHITE, Primary Examiner.

R. B. MOFFITI, I. R. HALL, Assistant Examiners.

1. THE METHOD OF CASTING REFRACTORY MATERIALS WHICH ARE FUSIBLE AT HIGHTEMPERATURES TO FORM ARTICLES OF LARGE SIZE HAVING OPENINGS EXTENDINGTHROUGH THE BODIES THEREOF, COMPRISING POURING THE REFRACTORY MATERIALIN MOLTEN LIQUID FORM FROM A POURING DEVICE AT A PLACE SPACED FROM THEEXTERIOR OF THE MOLD INTO A GUIDING COLUMN INDEPENDENT OF THE MOLD, ANDCONSTITUTED OF A REFRACTORY MATERIAL COMPATIBLE WITH THE REFRACTORYMATERIAL BEING CAST SO AS TO BE UNITABLE THEREWITH AND HAVING A MELTINGPOINT ABOVE THAT OF THE MOLTEN MATERIAL BEING CAST AND SUCH THAT THECOLUMN RETAINS ITS CONFIGURATION THROUGHOUT THE POURING OPERATION TOFORM THE OPENING IN THE BODY OF THE ARTICLE. AND USING SUCH COLUMN TOGUIDE THE POURED MATERIAL FROM SUCH EXTERIOR PLACE TO AT LEAST ONESELECTED DISCHARGE LEVEL SPACED FROM THE INTERIOR WALLS OF THE MOLD, ANDIN GUIDING THE MATERIAL POURED FROM SUCH DEVICE INTO THE MOLD BRAKINGTHE DOWNWARD FLOW OF SUCH MATERIAL TO REDUCE THE VIOLENCE OF THE FEEDTHEREOF SO THAT SUCH MATERIAL WILL DISCHARGE INTO THE MOLD AT SAIDSELECTED DISCHARGE LEVEL WITHOUT SPLASH AND WITH A MINIMUM OF FORCETOWARD ANY INTERIOR WALL PORTION OF THE MOLD, COOKING THE POURED MOLTENMATERIAL AND THE REFRACTORY MATERIAL OF THE GUIDING COLUMN TO UNITE SAIDGUIDING COLUMN WITH THE CASTING FORMED BY THE POURED MOLTEN MATERIAL,EXERTING FORCE ON THE SOLIDIFIED POURED MATERIAL IN THE INTERIOR OF THECOLPORTIONS OF THE COLUMN TO CONVERT IT INTO A LINER FOR SUCH OPENING INTHE ARTICLE.